Jewish film festival offers something old, something new

Wednesday

Apr 30, 2014 at 3:58 PMMay 16, 2014 at 7:32 AM

By Eli Shermanesherman@wickedlocal.com

May 1 marks the first day of a festival that offers a unique window into the world of new and classic independent films exhibiting the diversity of Jewish life.The 17th annual festival, put on by The National Center for Jewish Film (NCJF), will exhibit 19 films from 10 countries shown at four venues around the Boston area through May 11. NCJF, established in 1976, is headquartered on Brandeis University's campus in Waltham and is an independent nonprofit film archive, distributor and exhibitor.This year's festival includes restored films from 1910, 1929, 1938 and 1950 along with a slew of comedies, dramas, full-length motion pictures and shorts. All of the films are being shown in a theater for the first time in Massachusetts, according to Lisa Rivo, co-director of the center.Festivalgoers can expect a diverse range of comedies this year, including "Cohen On the Telephone," the 1938 Yiddish musical comedy "Mamele" and a documentary portrait of Canadian comedian David Steinberg in "Quality Balls: The David Steinberg Story." Steinberg appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" more than 130 times, second only to Bob Hope."Closer to the Moon," a Romanian film, is slated to show on May 8 and is based on a true story about four Romanian men and one woman who robbed the National Bank of Romania in 1959. After the gang was arrested, tried and convicted, they were forced to star in a propaganda film about the crime. The dark comedy stars Vera Farmiga ("Up in the Air"), Mark Strong ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy") and Harry Lloyd ("Game of Thrones").Rivo said "Closer to the Moon" was strategically paired to show with another drama and political thriller, "Friends From France." The film is about 20-year-old cousins who travel to Odessa in 1979 pretending to be tourists, but slip away to meet with "refuseniks" – Jews harassed by the Soviet regime. Rivo said the film resonates with the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia where Jews are being treated somewhat like "ping pongs" in the international conversation."I think it is probably one of the most interesting films in the festival," Rivo said Tuesday. "What's happening now in the Ukraine, this film – I think – is an interesting addition to the conversation."Other festival highlights include "Iran 1950," a collaboration of recently restored rare footage taken of Jews in Iran in 1950-51, and the silent 1910 short, "A Child of the Ghetto," directed by D.W. Griffith, which is shot in New York's Lower East Side. The center digitally restored "A Child of the Ghetto" with a new score created by Swedish composer Alexander Freudenthal."NCJF's work bridges the ‘old' and the ‘new,' archive films and new productions, scholars and artists," Rivo said in a press release. "The center is committed to presenting a range of cultural productions referable to the Jewish experience."NCJF has rescued and restored more than 100 endangered films and provides consultation to about 7,000 people each year. Rivo co-directs the center with her mother Sharon Pucker Rivo, who founded the archive in the 1970s. For Lisa, the festival is a way to create an environment for some of the films they rediscover."[We're] not just saving them and making them available, but by putting them together we're putting context to them," Rivo said. "Art is not made in a vacuum, it's part of a continuum."Rivo stressed the social importance of going to the theater."I still think that being together – especially to watch film and theater and music live – is a really essential piece of public life," Rivo said. "It's sometimes difficult to get up and go when media is so available to folks, but it's a totally transforming experience to put on [your] shoes, get out there and go to the theater."Films will be shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Suffolk University Modern Theatre and West Newton Cinema. A full listing of movies, showing times and venues can be found along with ticket information at www.jewishfilm.org.